Car-axle box



(No Model.)

W. M. LEGKIE.

v GAR AXLE BOX. No. 427,880. Patented May 13, 1890.

W/TNESSES. INVENTOH I ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WVILLIAM M. LEOKIE, OF J OPLIN, MISSOURI.

CAR-AXLE BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 427,880, dated May 13, 1890.

Application filed March 4, 1890. Serial No. 342,557. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM M. LECKIE, of Joplin, in the county of Jasper and State of Missouri, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Car-Axle Boxes, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to axle-boxes for cars of different kinds, but is more especially intended for use on cars in coal and other mines, and it will here be described accordingly. It especially relates to that description of ournal or axle boxes which are self-lubricating and have the lubricant supplied from an upright chamber on the box.

The invention consists in a novel construction of such a box with attached lubricatingchamber and the means employed for opening and closing said chamber, which latter is designed to be packed with cotton or other waste saturated with oil, the construction of the parts being substantially as hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claim.

Although the invention is here illustrated as applied to a journal-box closed at its outer end for the car-wheel to Work on the inside of the box, it is equally applicable, by leaving the outer end of the journal-box open, to permit of the axle passing through it, to arrangements in which the car-wheel is on the outside of the journal-box, and for arrangements in which the car-wheel runs loose upon the axle.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 represents a side or longitudinal elevation of my improved car-axle box with axle in part applied. Fig. 2 is a plan of the same, and Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section upon the line 3 3 in Fig. 2.

A is the journal-box portion of the structure, and B the upright chamber thereon, which forms a receptacle for the cotton waste and oil used to effect the" lubrication, and which receptacle is designed to occupy a po sition 011 the outside of the car so as to be readily accessible.

0 indicates the axle in part.

Both the journal-box A and superposed re ceptacle B may be made of cast-iron and in one piece. The box A is made with an annular recess 1) on its inside around the axle, and provides for a constant supply of lubricant to the axle by an aperture 0 in the bottom of the receptacle B, or of lubricant to the car-wheel when the same is arranged to run loose. Then the axle-box is 011 the outside of the wheel, which is in the usual arrangement on cars running in coal-mines, the outer end of the journal-box being closed, none of the lubricant is wasted and the box is protected from entering dust and dirt.

The receptacle B is made open at its top, and said opening grooved on its sides or formed with dovetailed recesses for the recep tion of a sliding cover D, to close said opening. This cover D, which may be thus or otherwise restrained from being lifted out, is provided with a stop or stop-pin d near its inner end, Which restrains the slide from being drawn fully out, and is held in position when closed by a movable lock-pin c. This lock-pin is made capable of being raised or of being slid up through the lid, limited by a stop, so that it will be free to pass through an opening f in the receptacle B when drawing the cover D out, and will serve as a handle by which to slide the cover in or out, in addition to its function when down or in its normal position as a locking device to hold the cover closed. The cover D thus fitted and applied cannot be lost or misplaced, and theoil and waste in the receptacle B is protected from debris and dirt liable otherwise to enter the receptacle.

Such axle-box is specially adapted for coalmining cars, in which a poor lubricant is generallyused and little or no facilities are afforded for oiling or lubricating the j ournalboxes. Constructed as described it enables the coal miner or operator to fill the receptacle 'B on the outer end of the journal-box with the same is easily remedied by inserting with safety and convenience a hot iron into the contents of the receptacle, when the lubricant will be relieved of its sluggishness and the car he put in good running order again.

My improved car-box is a self-lubricating one, free from dust and dirt, and excluding dust and dirt from the journal or bearing, and

there will be a great saving of both oil and labor, as the lubricating facilities will have to be but very seldom examined or attended to, thereby reducing the number of hands in a mine necessary to attend to the oiling.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- In a sellj lubricating car-axlc box, the coin bination of the journal-box A, the superposed lubfloating-receptacle l) on the outer end of; said box, in con'nminication with the latter by a lubricating aperture or passage, and constructed with an open top, and the sliding lid 1), closing said top and provided with a stop near its inner end operating to prevent the withdrawal of the lid from the receptacle, and an adjustable lock-pin 6, operating to hold the lid closed and serving when raised as a handle by which to move the lid, substantially as specified.

WILLIAM M LE()IUE.

Witnesses:

THOMAS F. OGBURN, HENRY W. DAVISON. 

